 | |
| |
TechnologyDaily Mobile
High-Tech Issues Move Slowly At WTO
By William New
Decisions normally do not move at high speed at the World Trade Organization. But some high-tech issues, such as e-commerce and lower tariffs on information technology products, may not be moving at all, according to sources in Geneva.
The members of the WTO care deeply about high-tech issues, sources say. But they may be spinning their wheels on e-commerce as it falls prey to the politics of posturing in the pre-negotiation stage.
In an informal meeting on March 13, the General Council discussed the issue but came away only with a broad agreement to continue examining the issue through subsidiary bodies. The four subsidiary councils cover trade in services; trade in goods; trade and development; and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS).
In 1998, the General Council tasked the councils to study how e-commerce relates to their areas. They reported in July 1999, and the matter was discussed at the December 1999 ministerial in Seattle, but talks were not finalized. In July 2000, the General Council again called on the four bodies to update their reports. These were presented in December, reflecting little change from 1999.
A key sticking point is how to deal with issues that cut across the subsidiary bodies. Canada previously proposed a "horizontal" working group to look at the cross-cutting issues, a notion updated recently in a proposal for an ad hoc task force.
Task Force Would Examine Internet Issues
As proposed, the General Council would oversee the task force. The council is scheduled to hold a substantive discussion on the e-commerce work program in its May 7 meeting. Chairman Stuart Harbinson, Hong Kong Ambassador to the WTO, is to hold informal consultations with various countries prior to the meeting.
The ad hoc task force would look at classification issues — whether to treat the sale of an item on the Internet, such as downloading music, a book or software, as a good or a service. The United States and European Union would say that is a service, and as such, is not taxable. Other countries fail to see the difference from purchasing the item, such as software, physically in a store, which is taxable.
The proposed task force also would look at the effect of competition provisions in different agreements such as the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and TRIPs on e-commerce; customs duties and whether to continue a moratorium on duties on electronic transactions; and development-related aspects of e-commerce in different agreements. Finally, the group would look at jurisdictional issues, such as a violation of a TRIPs right on a Web site, or the electronic delivery in another country of an item covered under the GATS by downloading it.
There are some members, including the European Union, India and Brazil, who feel e-commerce should be handled in the broader services negotiations. Negotiators are meeting intensively this week to try to finalize by the end of March procedures for the services negotiations that began in January.
Others, such as the United States, Japan, Canada, and a number of Asian, Latin American and African nations, have shown support for a separate task force. Still other nations, including Pakistan and Cuba, are opposed to a separate task force on the grounds that they sought separate task forces on other issues and were rebuked, a Geneva source said.
Small Countries Face Task Force Challenges
While no agreement on a separate group seems imminent, some are encouraged that the division is not "North-South," meaning between developed and developing countries. This was surprising, because the comparative advantage in e-commerce generally lies with developed countries.
Alberto Suescum, Panama's ambassador to the WTO, said in an interview he supports a task force with carefully specified scope, timeframe, working methods and transparency. But he noted the small-country difficulty of having another meeting to attend. "Any time anybody speaks about setting up yet another group, our mission winces and checks the calendar quickly," he said. The Panamanian mission consists of him and two staffers. Suescum proposed that the agreement be voluntary.
U.S. industry groups have become skeptical about the launch of a new round of talks at the next WTO ministerial in Doha, Qatar, in November. In a "sort of recognition of reality," industry would rather wait than have the governments go in with no chance of getting a final agreement, said Christopher Padilla, vice president for international affairs at Kodak. That could lead to "another Seattle," where the governments knew beforehand there was no consensus on key issues and floundered. Padilla said the governments should decide by September at the latest. WTO Director General Michael Moore is targeting July.
Further Liberalization Of IT Products Uncertain
A few years ago, WTO members negotiated reductions in tariffs on a number of information technology products under the Information Technology Agreement (ITA). Recent efforts to expand that list of IT products have been shelved, according to sources in Geneva. The committee tasked with consideration of the so-called ITA II has regular meetings, but furtherance of the agreement "is not even an item on the agenda," one government source said. "There is no indication of movement. It is really just hanging in the air."
Instead, the Committee of Participants to the Agreement on Information Technology is now looking at non-tariff barriers to IT products. In the absence of progress, officials are developing an inventory of measures in place in their countries. The inventory was due by the end of March, but the target date for tabling papers has been informally pushed back to the next meeting on April 10.
A group of countries calling themselves Friends Against Non-Tariff Measures are leading the way on the inventory. The group includes the United States, European Union, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, Hong Kong and Singapore.
U.S. Pushes For More Members
Meanwhile, efforts continue to get more of the 140 WTO member countries to sign on to the existing ITA, which is voluntary. So far, there are 56 signatories to the agreement, mainly in North America, Europe and Asia. None of the larger economies in Latin America, such as Mexico or Brazil, has joined, making joining a target for the United States in its ongoing negotiations with the hemisphere in the Free Trade Area of the Americas.
Some in Geneva argue that the failure to expand the ITA suggests that the sectoral approach to negotiating has reached its limit. Progress on ITA II has been held up largely by Malaysia and India. Malaysia wants more coverage of consumer electronic products, while India is opposed to the inclusion of radar products. Their reluctance could be addressed in a broader market access negotiation that would provide room for tradeoffs.
But some countries are wary of letting IT products get drawn into larger negotiations and do not want the committee to become a negotiating group. The original mandate was to identify non-tariff barriers for action, but several countries, such as the Philippines, India and Malaysia, raised concerns. So the group is strictly non-negotiating now, though some concede the lines may blur in the next phase of the project. During that phase, which kicks off at the April meeting, they will analyze the inventory before the Doha ministerial. It could get political, sources say.
NEW FEATURE
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
